Leonard Pitts

Leonard Pitts starts his column ("Haters in high positions galvanize the unhinged," Sunday) with quotes from six "haters in high positions." Almost everyone would agree that the first two quotes and the last are perfect examples. But the three in the middle should leave most people scratching their heads. Calling Miami a Third-world country is hate speech? Then making disparaging remarks about any place must make you a hater. The last quote comes from Glenn Beck, a conservative talk show host.

Don't blame the bears How can we, as an ethical society, build homes and leave our garbage out in a gated subdivision near a forest "carved out of the Wekiva River landscape" that advertises lots of wildlife, and then wonder why we attract hungry animals simply looking for a meal? Because of a near human fatality, we then kill seven bears for doing what bears do: look for food. I don't get it. Perhaps a little more educational outreach is in order by the Florida officials who euthanized these animals.

I found the headline and some of the text of Wednesday's op-ed column by Leonard Pitts, "Loud, Proud and Ignorant," offensive. The tone of the piece is a microcosm of the state of political commentary in the 2008 presidential election: unfair, unbalanced, loud and derisive, even in the most unexpected places. Pitts discusses the appearance of conservative radio pundit Kevin James on Chris Matthews' Hardball on MSNBC. Pitts arrogantly beseeches the reader to Google "Chris Matthews + Kevin James" and find the link to the video as a primer to understanding Pitts' column.

Rep. Todd Akin 's fame - more accurately, his infamy - now reaches all the way to the Congo . There, Eve Ensler, the award-winning American author of "The Vagina Monologues" and herself a survivor of rape, wrote an open letter castigating last week's suggestion by the Republican congressman that when a woman is a victim of "legitimate rape," her body has means of preventing pregnancy. As it happens, Ensler is in the Congo working to help some of the thousands of women raped in the fighting there.

THREE CHEERS for Leonard Pitts' recent editorial regarding the Elian protesters in Miami. Having been made an outcast minority in my own hometown, I found it refreshing that another American minority views the vocal Cuban minority in Miami as being irreverent to the rights of others. Freedom to them means the right to trample on the rights of others: white, black, American, Asian, Haitian. No matter where Elian Gonzalez's father lives, he has the right to be a father. Thank you, Leonard Pitts, for speaking so eloquently about those who have corrupted my beloved hometown.

IN HIS Monday op-ed column, ``Kansas takes a step backward,'' Leonard Pitts Jr. states that Kansas ``has given us spicy jazz.''Pitts may have his states mixed up with his cities, as I'm fairly sure that Bennie Moten, Count Basie and all the other jazz legends performed in Kansas City, Mo.Jack BerkstresserORLANDO

- Because of an editing error, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in criticism was omitted from a list in Wednesday's A-section. Michael Dirda of The Washington Post won the award for his book reviews. The finalists were Leonard Pitts Jr. of The Miami Herald for articles on popular music and culture and Gail Caldwell of the Boston Globe for literary and social criticism.

Hooray for Leonard Pitts! His Saturday column, "Man jailed for his thoughts . . .," was right on the money. That it comes from an African-American, for whom hate crimes (i.e., thought control) were invented, makes this column especially compelling. If the public accepts thought control over criminals, it won't stop with criminals. We should punish people for what they do, not for what they think. Jim Crawford Orlando

In response to Leonard Pitts' Wednesday column regarding the Winona Ryder case: Pitts states that there is different justice in this country for those who are white enough or wealthy enough to afford it. On one account I agree. However, the O.J. Simpson murder trial proves you need only to be wealthy enough. A poor, white female would have gone to jail along with "Keisha Jones from South Central L.A." Mindy Lafevers Ocoee

THE WEDNESDAY column by Leonard Pitts, ``Car-crash culture: Negative impact,'' was excellent. I equate his references to the filming of Matthew McConaughey's life in the movie EDtv to that of Web cams in everyday life.It seems that so many folks out there today are inviting other Web surfers into their home via the Web cam for a peek at their daily lives or other ``personal business.'' I honestly don't ever want to be that visible to others. Guess I just am not an exhibitionist. Kenneth Cossin, ORLANDO

Here's what an idiot I was: I thought it was going to be fun. Scary, yes - the lights would go out, the winds would howl, the windows would rattle - but essentially harmless for all that. It would be fun, in a ghost-stories-in-the dark, shiver-up-your-back kind of way. We would camp out in the house, eating bologna sandwiches and playing board games, waiting for the lights to come back on. We had been gone for a week, a family road trip to Washington and Atlanta, and this was before the Internet was ubiquitous, back when it was still possible to unplug from the inflow of information.

It takes more than talent to be a successful writer, three accomplished authors told a group of aspiring writers at UCF's second annual Book Festival on Saturday. It takes commitment and perseverance. "Fiction is commitment, especially if you're not Stephen King or John Grisham where when you write a book and send it, they'll send you a check for a million dollars," syndicated newspaper columnist and novelist Leonard Pitts Jr. told a group of 35 people who attended a panel discussion titled "Capturing American Life.

Anthony has the right to an adequate defense Saturday's article about Circuit Judge Stan Strickland's decision to declare Casey Anthony indigent ("Public must pay Anthony's court costs," Orlando Sentinel) implied taxpayers should be outraged that government funds will pay for Anthony's attorneys' investigation, experts and travel expenses. However, nobody is questioning the prosecution's investigative, expert and travel costs. Does the Sentinel think that spending unlimited state funds to prosecute her is acceptable, but limited state funds to defend her is wasteful?

I am sincerely sorry that Leonard Pitts ("Even in 2009, we all still look alike to you," Orlando Sentinel, Sunday) had an unjust experience with a police officer. But Pitts' unjust and inflammatory condemnation of the Cambridge, Mass., police officers and his reverse racism endanger my black children with having similar experiences in the future. Henry Gates could have been an example of a gentleman and helped move things ahead. Instead, he and Pitts have helped perpetuate the very fear and prejudice that they claim to hate.

Leonard Pitts starts his column ("Haters in high positions galvanize the unhinged," Sunday) with quotes from six "haters in high positions." Almost everyone would agree that the first two quotes and the last are perfect examples. But the three in the middle should leave most people scratching their heads. Calling Miami a Third-world country is hate speech? Then making disparaging remarks about any place must make you a hater. The last quote comes from Glenn Beck, a conservative talk show host.

I found the headline and some of the text of Wednesday's op-ed column by Leonard Pitts, "Loud, Proud and Ignorant," offensive. The tone of the piece is a microcosm of the state of political commentary in the 2008 presidential election: unfair, unbalanced, loud and derisive, even in the most unexpected places. Pitts discusses the appearance of conservative radio pundit Kevin James on Chris Matthews' Hardball on MSNBC. Pitts arrogantly beseeches the reader to Google "Chris Matthews + Kevin James" and find the link to the video as a primer to understanding Pitts' column.

I READ Leonard Pitts' piece in the Sunday edition, "Rank no insulation against insult", and all I can say is hallelujah. Somebody finally said it, and it was a man. What did he say that really struck home with me? It was that women have not come as far as everyone would like us to think. I am a board-certified physician, the secretary of and newsletter editor for the Florida Academy of Pain, and I also write the scientific portion of the newsletter. I earn 250 continuing medical-education credits a year in the state of Florida to maintain my medical licensure when the state only requires 40 CME credits every two years.

MY THANKS to Leonard Pitts Jr. for spotlighting an important issue in his recent column ``Some older men should grow up.'' Pitts affirms what most of us have long suspected: that the people responsible for most teen pregnancies are not teenagers - they are men several years older.Our society has had the tendency to point its collective finger at pregnant teenagers as if these girls were completely responsible for bringing this condition upon themselves. Until we focus on the real source of the problem - the men who feel that they have the right to vent their desires on vulnerable young girls and then walk away when the situation gets to be more than they can handle - then we will continue to deal with the serious consequences brought about by their irresponsible behavior.

Leonard Pitts, in his Sept. 23 column, "Welcome back to the real world," is off the mark by 60-plus years. The world began disliking and losing respect for America and Americans long before WMD, the Iraqi fiasco, NSA wiretapping and alleged Geneva Convention pussyfooting. During World War II, our British allies thought Americans were overfed, overpaid, oversexed and over there. North Koreans resented our intrusion into an internal ideological dispute. North and South Vietnamese hated us equally for the same reasons.

In response to Leonard Pitts' Wednesday column regarding the Winona Ryder case: Pitts states that there is different justice in this country for those who are white enough or wealthy enough to afford it. On one account I agree. However, the O.J. Simpson murder trial proves you need only to be wealthy enough. A poor, white female would have gone to jail along with "Keisha Jones from South Central L.A." Mindy Lafevers Ocoee